May 26, 2011

Sorry about the lack of posts. I have been very busy, as usual. I still can't shake off the whole 'school-year-coming-to-an-end' feeling, so I have been very slackish on pretty much everything. Less than a month!
I also got an awesome new (well, to me anyway) Linkin Park CD. It was a steal, too- only $6.99. The album's called Minutes to Midnight. My favourites so far are Hands Held High, In Pieces, and Leave Out All The Rest. If you are looking for good songs to work out to, I would definitely recommend these.
Anyway....
Exercise is going well, I have been doing an increase of 5 push ups a night, and am up to 45. I have been only doing 20 sit ups a night. I know I should do more, but I just never feel like I am getting any stronger with them. It's annoying.
Sadly, I had to cut down on the amount that I'm skating because I needed a French tutor- I'm down 2 1/2 hours a week.
Can't wait for summer!
peace.

May 5, 2011

Had a pop-tart for breakfast. Bad idea. I had an awful stomach ache untill about 8:00 this afternoon.
50 squats, 20 sit ups, all of 5 pushups. Bad day health wise...
On the bright side, I am now Juliet in the class reading of Romeo and Juliet. Not entirely sure what I signed up for, but very excited for Monday!
peace.

Workout 2

These excersised work about the same areas as the last one did. I would recomend alternating between excersised so that you don't get bored and you make actual progress.

1. T- you need 2 light weights for this- depending on your strength, anywhere from 1 to 8 pounds. Take one weight in each hand. hold your arms out to the side, so that your body makes a T shape. Hold. Keep holding. Keep holding. Having fun yet? The time you want to hold it depends on your desired result- if you want big, bulky muscles, use heavier weights but only hold for 15-30 seconds. If you want leaner muscles (more runner type), use lighter weights but hold for a minute or two. -upper body-
2. Wall sits- stand against a wall andput your legs out. Sit like you would on a chair. Tighten your core and put your hands above your head. Hold it. I would recomend working towards 4 minutes, but you can start at 30 seconds and work up if that is too difficult. You can also go on your toes or heels to work different muscles. I would reccomend finding a few long songs so that you can track where in the song you stopped holding it and try to get past that mark. If you are up to a real challenge, try it in a pair of slippery socks on a hardwood floor! You can also hold weights in both hands or try it on one foot.
3. Leg Lifts- Lie on your back with your hands either by your side or crossed underneath your lower back. Tighten your stomack. Lift your feet up about six inches off of the ground- this will probably be lower than you think. Remember to press down your lower back so that it does not arch. If your back starts hurting, you should stop immediately so that you don't hurt yourself.
4. Side-Plank- go into a pushup position, and drop down onto your forearms. lift one arm off of the ground. You can either have it accross your chest (so that it is touching the other shoulder), or rotate your body sideways and put your free arm up into the air so that there is a straight line from you free arm to the ground. hold for as long as you can without putting pressure on your back. Again, this could be anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes.

Workout 1

You should do a workout every other night in coordination with stretching (so that if you do stretching on Monday, you work out on Teusday and so on and so forth). Here is what I do to stay in at least resonable shape during the off season.

1. pushups- 20 total- I like doing 5 wide, 5 diamond, and 10 normal (shoulder width) apart. On the normal ones, make sure your elbows are back and touching your body. If you can't do them all at once, take a break and do another thing and then come back- don't just stop doing them, If you can't do the 20, do as many as you can and then add one every day untill you are up to your goal. Remember to keep your back flat and your butt down. If your back starts to hurt, stop doing them!-upper body, core-
2. squats- 50- just kneel down untill your but touches the back of your heels, then stand back up again. Sounds easy, right? Now do that 49 more times. Try to keep your head up and your chest back- don't slouch over.  also, don't put your hands on the ground or on your thighs to push up. I roccomend putting them on your hips or straight out in front of you. Remember to go all the way down. If you are tired, don't skimp the quality and just bend your body down to touch your toes- doesn't count. If you are a real glutton for torture, you can add some weights or do a jump at the end of each one.-quads-
3. sit ups- 20- You know how to do 'em. Remember to keep your elbows wide behind your head and don't arch your back or roll your neck forward to do another one.-stomach-
4. planks- Get into a pushup position. Go down onto your forearms. Hold it for as long as you can. I didn't put a time for this one because some people can hold it for 15 seconds and others for 3 minutes. Just hold as long as you can and try to improve your time whenever you do it. As with the pushups, if your back starts to hurt you should stop immediately so you don't hurt yourself.  -core-

Splits

Most of the people who read this blog aren't interested in the splits, so this is for the few who are. This is very good for if you get caught in a single leg and the other person pulls your leg up. This should give you the element of surprise when you don't crumble after your foot goes above your head. Remember to be SUPER careful, as you don't want to cause more harm than good.
1) Be warm first! run in place for a couple minutes to loosen up and get your blood flowing.
2) To loosen up my leg muscles, I like to do lunges (see previous post) and what I call the ballerina. You sit with one foot in front of you and the other tucked under. Lean forward well keeping your back arched.
3) After this, you can try the splits! Simply start in a lunge and slide your front leg forward. Repeat on the other side. For middle splits, stand with your feet shoulder width apart and slide outwards. When you can, bend down and use your hands to hold you up.
4) Stretc EVERY night!!! I cannot stress how important this is! If you don't use it, you will lose it!
5)I have found that if you do left, right, middle, left, right, middle, you will go down lower the second time.
 Be patient!! I am a flexible girl and it took me 3 months of stretching each night to get the left splits, and 5 months to get my right. If you are a guy or are less flexible, it will take you longer. Just stick with it and you will get it. Good luck!

Stretching

Although this is not specificaily related to losing weight, flexibility can definately come in handy on the mat. These stretches are a combination of figure skating, gymnastics, and wrestling stretches I have been tought over the years.If you think any of these are isselavent, or if you have any more good stretches, please leave a comment below. Start out with less intense stretches, then move up to the harder ones. Remember to hold everything, and don't push yourself to the point of pain. I did that in sixth grade and ended up limping around for a week. Finally, remember that repitition is key. If you can, do these every night right before you go to sleep, or right away when you wake up. Use it or lose it! good luck.
Pike- Sit on the ground with your feet straight out in front of you. bend foreward and try to touch your toes. point or flex your feet for a different stretch. Try to arch your back as you bend. You should eventually be completely flat, with your stomach pressed against your legs.
Toe Touches- very similar to the pike. Bend down slowly, trying to keep your back arched. For a slightly easier stretch, cross your feet as you bend down, or put your feet shoulder-width apart.
Lunges- kneel down with one knee touching the ground and the other up to the sky, like you are proposing to someone. Pull your hips down and forward, trying to make a straight like between both knees. Remember to keep the back leg in line with the body (not twisted over onto one side). Always do both sides.
Hurdlers- Like pikes, but a little bit easier. sit on the ground with one foot straight in front and the other one with your foot about half way up the thigh- so that your leg makes a p shape. bend forward slowly and hold. For more of a chalenge, cross your foot over the straight leg. Remember to keep your knee down, and do noth sides.
Back Bends- Very usefull for getting out of pins. Make sure your stomach muscles are strong enough to hold you up- don't rely on an arm rest or some other thing to help you, or you'll have a bad back by the time you're 20. Stand in front of a counter or dresser with your feet a few inches away from the edge. Push your hips forward and arch your back slowly. I do not recomend you do this on wooden floors in socks. That would end badly.
Rockers- Not actually their real name, but I'm too lazy to look it up. Lie on your stomach and bend your knees. Grab your ankles (so that your body makes an o shape), and arch your back untill your body looks like a raindrop from the side. Rock forwards and backwards.
Childs pose- sit down with your legs tucked under. loean forward, trying to keep your back flat (not curved out). Hold. Very relaxing.

Salutations.

Over the summer, I undertook the intense (and in retrospect highly unreasonable) quest of losing weight and gaining muscle for wrestling. At 110 lbs and 5 feet, 2 inches, I am not exactly fat, but my coach said I could stand to lose a few pounds. However, after countless hours of research, I could not find a single site or post that fulfilled all of my needs.
- I am female, so my caloric intake, target fat percentage, and muscle mass would presumabely be different than that of a bor of the same weight, hight, and age.
- I am a teenager, and so the amount of food I eat and the amount of excersise that is safe for me would be different than that of an adult
- I am vegeterian, so the whole muscle building, 500-grams-of-protein-per-day thing wasn't going to work either.
 I figured there has to be a few people out there with similar constraints, and if we could join together and colaborate tips we could acheive something.
Feel free to comment below with suggestions, tips, questions, ect.
Be epic.